Watchers of the American economy are likely to get confirmation next week of what many of us know anecdotally to be true: well over 50 per cent of US households have been worse off over the past year than they were four years ago.
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics will release its Annual Consumer Expenditure Survey, and I estimate that it will show the 2023 after-tax income for over 50 per cent of US households, not only below 2022 levels, but below 2021 and 2020 levels as well.
Over the past two months, companies from Dollar General and Dollar Tree to McDonald's have spoken about a weakened US consumer. Dollar General stated that their consumers were “cash strapped” and “worse off than they were six months ago.